A MUST read!

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html

Hope

Easter, Soccer, Watermelon, Chess for Champs, Friends, Life, Love and Hope for what is to come....
Did you know that the biblical definition for hope is confident expectation? I love that! Our lives are overflowing with confident expectation!

He drinks too much!

Liam drinks too much water! Too much water? Couldn't possibly drink too much water right? Well if you drink enough to make yourself throw up, then you can drink too much water! Look at how cute he is though....He's even cute when he's being naughty and really cute putting himself in timeout.

Mothers Day

Mothers day is fast approaching and I find myself reflecting on all the mothers, that in my life have shaped the "better mother in me". I wouldn't consider myself a "worlds greatest mother type of mom", but I'm not terrible and I hate to think of the mother I would be if God had not so strategically placed all the right mommies in my life at just the right time. First I will start with my mommies.....my biological mom taught me if it is the very last thing you do in life, pray for your children! My second mom taught me that you can really love a child as your own even if you didn't give birth to them.I think back to a couple of years before I was a mother, and a good friend of mine had just had her first baby. I watched her struggle to nurse her baby, she persevered and had success, it was beautiful. Then my mother-in-law taught me about healthy foods I watched her and I think willed myself to eat and enjoy foods I never liked so that I too could be like her and give my children a healthy start. My friend Salley taught me that to instill the word of God in my children would be the most important thing I could do for them (she is so right). The word does not return void, and children will grow up and know how to do life not perfect, but with righteousness and love for God and others in mind and heart. And last but not least Elizabeth, for teaching me to not worry so much about the disaster that my house is and I can still have friends over when everything looks like a tornado hit......it's a lesson in not sweating the small stuff! I know I'm missing so many, but in my mind when I do something "right" I think not because of me but because of the mommies I have learned from. All glory to God, for using people for good regardless of them even realizing.

Night Jobs...

 Getting stuff done at night is the only option if we want to get anything done....I've been wanting to paint the door to our laundry room.

  Staining the swing for our back porch. Lucky for me they make spray stain...we'll see how it turns out.

 That's  Chase putting lattice up so our vines will take off and cover our fence. We are hoping the honeysuckle will take off, it smells so good!

 That honeysuckle I was talking about :)

And because I worked so hard, an oreo cupcake :D



It's been a while....

Since I mentioned http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. Go read her stories and see what she's doing, what God is doing! Then head over to http://www.amazima.org/index.html and see if you can help.

A Season of Sickness..

Man we have had it bad lately! You name it we have had it! It's been difficult to say the least. I just want to take a moment to say, babies that stay at home with their mommies and are breastfed, still get sick! No matter what you do, your baby will get sick at some point, there will be seasons that will be worse than others. If your baby isn't getting sick now, they will. If your babies aren't sick babies they will get sick when they start school. At some point it will be your baby. It doesn't have anything to do with how good of a mommy you are, how clean you try to keep them or how well you feed them (these things are important). So don't feel guilty and don't think your baby is "sickly" or your baby is "healthy". Your baby is just a normal baby and as far as sickness goes, it will pass and things get easier. O.k. thanks for indulging me if you read all of that ;)

Soccer

The kids are in soccer right now. I enjoyed Saturday's game. My mother and sister in-law came, so did Ebeth, Emerson and Jason. The Dominguez fam brought some tasty doughnuts and Elizabeth helped chase Liam around. The weather was beautiful and it was really fun. We played the Little Bratz (I'm not hating on anyone, their name really is the Little Bratz), we won!

delicious

Little man does have a sweet tooth.

My eyes see, her eyes see..

You see our eyes don't see very well...but at least she has cute glasses!

Rewind back to February!

 

FATHER DAUGHTER DANCE

We curled her hair, put mascara on her eyelashes (as if she needed any...so jealous) and we got her best twirling dress out of her closet. All that was left was the best Daddy in the world! One of the cutest couples I've ever seen! This was probably one of the best days of her life and one of the most touching for me. 

Granny and Pawpaw 50 and still flirting!

God Speaks!

I know some people don't believe that God specifically speaks, and I know some people believe that God only speaks to pastors etc... I have proof otherwise. He speaks to me and he will speak to anyone expecting to hear from him and believing they will hear from him. Now I will be the first to say that I think I would hear from God more often if I sought his will first, on many things and if I was more obedient, I don't know? I don't know much I just know what I know and have the faith that He has apportioned to me. I want to give a couple examples of how he speaks to me, mostly to just brag about how cool my God is and to encourage anyone who needs to hear from him and wonders... A lot of the time he speaks scripture to my heart during a specific situation or during my quiet time or just whenever he wants. I hear “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10), a lot! For a while I struggled with thinking God was disappointed with me and I heard “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness Exodus 34:6, man talk about sweet peace! And I love when he speaks his word to my heart, I do....but I love when he speaks very specifically to me. I love how he breaks into my day and reveals his amazing presence to me. Not too long ago I was about to sit down and have my quiet time (read my bible and pray) and I was looking for a pen because I have to journal when I do my quiet time, and I heard him say "just sit down". I was like "what"? O.k. Lord but I need a pen...I finally found a pen and when I went to sit down there was a pen shoved in my bible from the day before! Silly Jennifer, arguing with God. Then a couple of weeks ago when we had  a night of worship at church on a Wednesday night I had a vision of me being at the nursing home visiting my mom.....hmm I prayed a "really God? You want me to go to the nursing home tonight? It's so late, I just want to go home". The vision was still there and pressing on my heart deeper. So I called Chase and told him I would be late. When I got to the nursing home I could hear my mom calling for me all the way down the hall!!!! My dear sweet Jesus speaks!!!!! I went home told Chase and tears flowed. Man we serve a sweet God.

Thankful.

Things have seemed tough lately. I have been frustrated, and then I'm frustrated for being frustrated. It seems lately at every turn I'm encountering someone who is rude and hateful. We have had some scares, much too close to the heart. God is reminding me that he is for me so who can come against me. He is also reminding me that I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of self-control. It is a dark, dark world we are living in and if we don't listen to the voice of truth and be light we will cower to the darkness.


 "Come to me, all of you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Quick Trip!

 Mah Tay

 See that chubby baby reading the menu....he's so smart ;)

 My precious Kyn

She's so purty

 Yep, we found it and it was awesome

 I heart him so much

 My beautiful goofball sister

We went to FW for Spring break! It was quick, chill and so much fun. Friday Chase and I grabbed our beautiful niece and headed over to Target to get her any toy she wanted, she picked out Jessee from Toy Story :) After Target we went to marble slab.......yummm... The rest of Friday was devoted to big girl shopping, sort of. We hit up Children's place, Justice and finally the most fun....Sam Moon! Dinner at Shady Oak, outside with the band playing and the kids dancing made for a beautiful ending to our fun day. Saturday we decided to try some new eats, so we drove over to the Mellow Mushroom (by TCU). The food was delish and if you eat on the patio, it provides great light for pictures!

We're going to say.....

"Remember that time when Liam had bronchialitis and pneumonia".....and then we're going to say, "yep God is so good, he healed him up quick!'

 These pictures aren't all that accurate, after brother and sister get home from school I will post some this little guy acting like a wild monkey!

She's Awesome!

Doing homework,

 can you tell?

She loves all things China.....so she eats her spaghetti with chop-sticks

Today Brenna came home and said "I had some bff issues today". I said "bff issues"? She told me that her two regular bff's weren't crazy about inviting a new girl into their circle a girl that didn't have any friends. She told me she was able to convince one of her friends, but not the other. She is so smart and so sweet, sometimes I could cry when I think about how awesome she is.

brrrr....cold water

Liam had a little fun with the water hose....and even though the water was cold it was 85 degrees outside so he warmed up quick! He had a fit when it was time to go in!

Fun in the sun.....fun in the mud!

 I love that this was as muddy as this princess was going to get!

 He did eat a little mud here and there, but what boy hasn't?

Taylor was as happy as could be and stayed out the longest!

Last summer we had an above ground pool, so when you take those things down at the end of the summer you are left with a giant crop circle looking area in your back yard. Couple no grass with water and your crop circle is a mud pit!

Mr. Ladies Man

For Valentines Day my Granny sent each of the kids a card with a two dollar bill inside. Fast forward a week and I can't find one of the two dollar bills...this isn't a shock to me, in this house it's pretty frequent we can't find things. I just decided I would go get another two dollar bill sometime in the near future and would probably find the other one soon after. Then the other day I called a friend of mine who has a daughter in Taylor's class and she says to me "Did you know Taylor gave Abby a two dollar bill"? I was wondering where that went? Then she proceeds to tell me that's not all that Taylor gave her. She said he also kissed her! He gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the shoulder....we thought the whole thing was so sweet, but I told her I would talk to Taylor and let him know they are a little too young for kissing like twenty years too young. So when I went to pick the kids up at school that day I asked Taylor "why did you give Abby your two dollar bill"? He said " because I love her". Oh Taylor you are a sweetie! Then I said "you didn't tell me about the kiss"? He said "how do you know about all this stuff"? Moms just know ; )

Park with Elmo

We went to the park with Elmo today. Liam ate some rocks. I took a couple a pics : )

Valentines Day goodies!

 Our babies are loved!

 These are mine!

Brownie cakes for teachers

Love

1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love......This was the theme for our sermon at church today, and then our pastor went on to explain just what love is. He also schooled us on worldly views of love, using movie themes and how we base love on feelings. It wasn't new to me, but still completely convicting....I had to ask myself..

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1. Do I love in a way that I give what is dear to me?

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

2. Do I love enough to lay down my life?

Matthew 5:43-46 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?

3. Do I love my enemies? It's so easy to love those who think I'm fabulous, but those who aren't crazy about me or just flat out don't like me.....it's not so easy to love those people.


1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.



And I love the way the message words it!

3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.




Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.
 
 
4. So if I have to ask myself ...
 
Am I patient?
 
Am I kind?
 
Do I envy?
 
Do I boast?
 
Am I proud?
 
Do I dishonor others?
 
Am I self-seeking?
 
Am I easily angered?
 
Do I keep a record of wrongs?


 

 

Well my answer to most of those questions isn't pretty, because in my flesh I love so wrong or I just don't really love....but His answer to me is that He is love and He is living in me so I have the power to love...really love, I just have to walk in his love, pray and seek and confess that I don't really love but I really want to! It can be hard to be convicted but it sure does bring sweet peace to be changed.

I love coffee!!!

A little coffee grounds sprinkled on top of ice cream....If you like chocolate covered coffee beans you must try some coffee on top of your ice cream!

Brenna

Good little Daddy ; )

 Luvin sister's doll

 Makes Mommy proud

He is kissing her not eating her